Wind farms are bigger in Texas

17 December 2009

Transcript

^M00:00:01
>> Mr. LaSaya: Hey. I'm Mark LaSaya. And
this week we get a look at a new kind of
rechargeable battery. There's an ATM that can
recyclable your old phone. And more proof that
everything is bigger in Texas. The Green Show
starts now.
^M00:00:14
[ Music ]
^M00:00:22
Powergenics is a new kind of rechargeable
battery. It's not only environmentally friendly
it's also more powerful. We sat down with the
company to learn more.
>> Mr. LaSaya LaSaya: So first of all let's
just get a quick rundown on the different types
or rechargeable batteries that are out there on
the market.
>> There's really three types. Nickel
cadmium is about a 30-year-old chemistry used
predominantly in power tools. Then there's
nickel-metal hydride. And nickel-metal hydride
is used for double A rechargeables. And then there's is
new guy on the street and that's called
nickel-zinc. At Powergenics what we do is
nickel-zinc rechargeable batteries. In the
nickel-zinc battery the constituent materials
are zinc and nickel, highly recyclable. The
electrolyte is water-based. So well over
90 percent of what's in a nickel-zinc battery
can be recycled.
>> Mr. LaSaya LaSaya: So how does the
lifespan of a nickel-zinc battery compare to
other types of rechargeable batteries?
>> What's in the marketplace now can be
charged and discharged about 200 times or so.
Same thing with the nickel-zinc battery. For
here today I brought a couple simple things:
Electric toothbrushes. And so one electric
toothbrush has a nickel-metal hydride battery
in it and one has a nickel-zinc battery. On
one --
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[ Sound of electric toothbrush ]
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>> Mr. LaSaya LaSaya: Okay.
>> And nickel-zinc.
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[ Sound of electric toothbrush ]
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>> Mr. LaSaya LaSaya: Definitely sounds
stronger.
>> Right. The nickel-zinc is stronger.
>> Mr. LaSaya LaSaya: What are some of the
other applications that Powergenics is using
for their batteries in other products? I saw
on your website the iRobot and some other power
tools.
>>: Yeah. Anything that uses a lot of
power. So anything that has a motor in it or a
high-intensity light is a perfect application
for these batteries.
>> Mr. LaSaya LaSaya: Belkin came out with a
new surge protector but it does more than just
protect your plug-ins from power surges. It
actually conserves energy by turning off your
idle electronics. It's called the Powerbar and
it shuts off of six of the eight outlets
automatically after 11 hours. The idea is for
the Powerbar to be used in office so you can
leave work and not have to worry about shutting
off your computer or other electronics. The
Powerbar will warn you before it shuts off so
you can override it if you are working into the
late hours which is pretty much everyone I know
that has a job in New York City. But if the
auto-off feature has value to you or someone
you know, it's yours for $34.99. France is
gearing up for a surge in electric vehicles.
The country is planning to spend the equivalent
of $2.2 billion U.S. dollars on charging
stations. The French government says office
parking lots will be required to install
charging sockets by 2015, and new apartment
buildings will have to get onboard by 2012. I
guess the saying that every thing is bigger in
Texas is true even in green tech. The European
energy company E.ON began powering the largest wind farm
in the world this week. And because everything
is bigger in Texas the farm is situated near
Roscoe, Texas. The farm stretches 627 wind
turbines across 100,000 acres of land. The
turbines were built by Mitsubishi, GE, and
Siemens and in total could power 230,000 homes.
Here's an ideal scenario: You walk into a
local Big Box retail store and up to an
ATM-like device. You pop in your old or unwanted
cell phone and the machine exchanges it for an
in-store coupon or a gift card. Well that idea
is a reality if you live Omaha, Nebraska. The
eco-ATM is the first of a test case installed
by a San Diego start-up. The company says to
expect more kiosks like this in Washington
state, San Diego, Texas, and Vermont by the end
of the year. They're also planning a massive
rollout next spring. The machine determines
the value of your phone by scanning for
scratches, scuff marks, and missing parts. Now
this may not be the most accurate method of
determining a gadget's value but I don't think
there's a convenient option out there. That's
it for this week. Send your feedback to
greenshow@cnet.com. I'm Mark LaSaya. Thanks
for watching.
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[ Music ]
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